CHROMOSOME COUNTS AND ASSESSMENT OF TWO HETEROCHROMATIC CHROMOSOMES IN SOME SPECIES OF PISTACHIA L. FROM IRAN

Abstract:
Karyotype analysis of species and subspecies of Pistacia from Iran are reported.
The chromosome complement of P. vera was 2n=30, with four metacentric pairs, eight submetacentric pairs and three acrocentric pairs.
One pair of metacentric chromosomes was heterochromatic in nature.
The karyotype of P. khinjuk (2n=24) consisted of seven submetacentric pairs and five metacentric pairs, of which one pair was heterochromatic.
Somatic chromosome counts in subspecies of P. atlantica including cabulica, kurdica and mutica gave a chromosome number of 2n=28, with three metacentric pairs, nine submetacentric pairs and two acrocentric pairs.
In the three subspecies, one pair of metacentric chromosomes was heterochromatic.
The comparison of all species and subspecies shows that two of the metacentric chromosomes could be candidates for the sex chromosome in this genus.